“And now,” said Chani Epstein, another G.O. head, taking the microphone, “for the captains”

"So, what do you think G.O. has planned?” A voice from across the table addressed Tamar, startling her.

“Rifky!” she said, her head jerking up. “I totally didn’t see you sitting there. When did you sit down?”

“Just about a second ago,” Rifky explained. “So what do you think? I’ve never seen the school so heavily decorated.” She pointed her chin toward the decorations around the room in explanation.

“Well, I could say ‘me too,’ ” Tamar said with a smile, “but that wouldn’t mean very much, seeing as I’m only here about two months.”

“Yeah, well, I’ll tell you,” Rifky assured her, “this is pretty over the top. What do you think it’s all about?”

“I dunno… Pessie said something about color war?” She trailed off.

“Well, trust Pessie to know.” Rifky said. “She always knows. And, I mean,” she added, looking around the room, “look at this place. It totally makes sense.”

It turned out that Pessie was right, and after a long drawn-out game involving all the colorful circles they had each pulled out of the hats, the color and theme for each team was revealed.

“So,” announced Miriam Slivkin, one of the 12th-grade G.O. heads. “As you have probably figured out, girls sitting at the yellow table”—she turned toward the long table bedecked in yellow—“your color is yellow, and your theme is the sun. And blue”—she nodded toward the blue table—“you’re blue and the moon, and green is trees and grass.”

“And now,” said Chani Epstein, another G.O. head, taking the microphone, “for the captains.”